


A Fresh Start

by markaleen



Category: Who's the Boss?
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27881489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/markaleen/pseuds/markaleen
Summary: Tony and Angela's 'all in fun' post-annulment date takes a more serious turn. One-shot.
Relationships: Angela Bower/Tony Micelli
Kudos: 10





	A Fresh Start

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to the people on Instagram who encouraged me to write this story! (I'd intended this to be a cute little fluff piece but it ended up going in another direction.) I hope you enjoy it :)

"To my ex-wife—"

"To my ex-husband—"

Tony and Angela clinked their glasses of orange juice together, amusement along with their admitted disappointment lingering in their smiles.

After taking a sip, Angela said, "I never thought I'd say that about you."

"Me either," Tony agreed. "I figured at least I'd get to call you my current wife first."

"I still can't understand how us checking into a motel as Mr. and Mrs. plays into common law. I wonder how many of their people have been caught with that technicality."

"Probably not many unless the IRS is out to get them," he grumbled. "I hope those other guys got to sleep on the bed at least."

She chuckled. "The offer was there."

"Angela!"

Rolling her eyes, she corrected, "I mean for you to sleep clear on the other side of the bed."

"Still…" Looking away from her, fighting off the temptation to make a suggestive retort, he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "I would'a liked to have picked a classier joint than a diner for our un-wedding dinner."

"I don't know, it's kind of cozy."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, under the circumstances. But I suppose even if we had intended to marry – say we had eloped – I think celebrating here would have been romantic."

Remembering their conversation back in the Judge's chambers, he said, "After the first big wedding and all?"

"Yeah," she smiled.

Tony paused while the waitress came by to refill their coffee mugs. When she moved on to the next table, he went on. "I guess eloping with Marie was kind of romantic looking back. Two kids in love, starting their life together. I just wish I could'a been able to give her a big wedding with a gown and flowers and chandeliers in the ballroom. She used to say we'd make up for it someday, when I made it big, ya know?" He looked down, his lips pursed.

Reaching across the table, Angela squeezed his hand. "She got to marry the most wonderful man in the world. I'm sure she had all she ever dreamed of."

Quickly meeting her eye, he chuckled, "Funny, that's almost exactly what she said."

After another squeeze, she let go of him.

Tony was quiet for a couple of minutes, both comfortable in their silence and listening to the clanking of dishes and muted chatter around them. Eventually, Tony spoke up again.

"The more I think about it now, I think I'm the one who dreamt more of a big wedding."

"I can see that."

"What was yours like?"

With a breath, she answered, "Oh, gosh. It's been so long since I've thought about it… I guess I could call it my dream wedding. We booked a lovely hall and had dozens of pink roses all around. My gown was trimmed with lace and I wore Mother's veil. Michael looked so handsome in his tux, though as soon as the ceremony was over he ditched the tie and undid his collar. He hated suits of any kind."

Tony rolled his eyes. "I believe it."

"The reception was even grander than I'd imagined on paper. The band was marvelous and the food was exquisite…"

"And?" he questioned with a rolling motion of his hand when Angela trailed off.

She shook her head. "And that's where the magic ended. Nothing left to dream about aside from our first house and child, and those came simultaneously. Don't get me wrong, I had a couple of nice years with Michael. But ultimately our marriage didn't survive. The wedding was superficial. Back then I thought that's what I wanted, but hearing you talk about Marie, I'm envious. You loved her so much that none of the celebrations truly mattered. You didn't wait for the timing to be right, you just had to be with her."

"I never thought about it that way," he mused.

Carefully, Angela said, "I hope the next time I'm married… someone feels that way about me."

He looked at her, eyes full, taking a moment to smooth out his voice. "He does—will."

Their eyes were locked in a trance, Angela smiling slightly but Tony's expression remaining serious. It was the waitress who pulled them back to earth, setting their breakfast-for-dinner plates down in front of them.

"Enjoy," she said, looking oddly at the two as they struggled to find the appropriate response.

. . .

"Thank you for dinner, Tony," Angela said as they sat on the curb outside of the restaurant waiting for a cab. "It was terrific."

"The least I could do for my ex-wife."

Though the jokes were getting repetitive, she still laughed. "Alimony in waffles. Michael only wishes he'd gotten off that easy."

"Hey, he at least got the perks of being married. All I got out of this marriage is a half a sweater and an obscene gift from Mona."

"Remind me to throw that in the dumpster before Billy finds it."

"Way ahead of you," Tony replied. "Why do you think I had us stop at McDonald's on the way to the airport?"

"Good thinking!"

When their laughter subsided, Angela then said, "So, do you think we'll get a flight back tonight?"

"I dunno. It's getting late. Think we should just get a motel – separate rooms! – so we don't risk waiting around the airport all night?"

"And if there's only one room?" she teased.

Raising his eyebrows, he replied, "Then at least this time I'll know I won't have to sleep on the floor."

"Ah, Tony… I already told you that I don't kiss on the first date."

"Angela," he said with a mocking tone, "this is far from our first date and you know it."

"That may be true, but it's our first date since our annulment. A fresh start." She looked away once the last sentence was out. With this came a drastic change in expression.

"What is it?" he asked.

It took her a moment to look back. Her own words had startled her. When she spoke, her voice was timid. " _Could_ this be a fresh start? Erase some moments from the past few months?"

"You mean Kathleen."

She nodded. "We never did talk about things once you two broke up."

"Aye-oh, you were still seeing Andy. What did it matter?"

"Because I still thought you…"

"What?" Tony questioned with frustration.

"I—I thought you weren't interested."

"How could you think that?"

"How could I not?" Tears filled her eyes, but she kept a hold on them. "I spent a year thinking you felt one way about me and all of a sudden you tell me you've found someone else."

"I didn't find her, it just happened. You know that."

"And I could understand that much. It was the fact you intended to keep seeing her."

Tony started to rebut, but Angela stopped him, catching hold of his wrist. "I'm not saying this to argue. I'm saying this because this seems like a good time and place to start over. We mean a lot to each other. That much is clear. What always gets lost is our intentions toward each other. In Jamaica, you said you've thought about marrying me. What got in the way was the uncertainty of your own future. I understood, but neither of us said what that meant in the meantime. We fell into an unspoken relationship, minimal as it was, somewhere along the line. When you told me about Kathleen, I had to face the reality that the idea I had about us wasn't the same as yours. You never actually said as soon as you made peace with Sam going to college and figured out what you wanted to do after you graduate that you'd be ready to propose. I let myself assume. That realization hurt more than anything else."

Tony was quiet, pondering her words. He hadn't let himself think of the rift Kathleen had caused between them at length. Being faced with it again brought back everything he'd suppressed since then.

"Angela, I never meant to hurt or mislead you," he started after a while. "The truth is I didn't know my intentions either. Things have always been so vague between you and me and it scares me sometimes. I'm so worried about losing you I guess I created it."

"You haven't lost me."

Patting the inside pocket of his jacket where the annulment papers were, he said, "Technically, I have."

"Tony, we didn't even know we were married. I use the term 'marriage' loosely."

"Come on, Angela. We both felt disappointed once it was over."

"Yes," she admitted, "but that is not the way I want to begin a marriage."

"Neither do I."

"So we both agree that we have regrets about things that have and haven't happened this year. Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know, Angela," he almost whined. "Now with Billy, everything is even crazier than before. He's just starting to adjust to his new life and so are the rest of us. If you and I got together now it would only complicate things."

"I agree."

Surprised, he questioned, "You do?"

Giving him a reassuring smile, Angela said, "I couldn't even focus on casually dating someone. Navigating a new relationship with you is too much to take on right now, especially where there is so much unsettled, but maybe this can be a start. Regardless of whether or not a romantic relationship will ever work out between us, we need to be honest with each other and clear the air. Stop assuming and face the uncomfortable discussions. It wasn't a problem a couple of years ago. Why now?"

"Because the stakes are higher now," he answered, though wished he'd chosen different wording. He shook his head. "Look, Angela. I'm still not ready to be married anyone. Though how I feel about you was the major factor, the reason I broke up with Kathleen because she was starting to think about marriage. Maybe it's something we can revisit after I graduate and figure out where it out from there."

"And until then?" she asked. "Do we see other people? Do we wait? Graduation is over a year away."

"How 'bout if we meet someone, we talk to each other first… no surprises or hard feelings?"

"I can live with that."

"Me, too."

The tension in the air didn't fully dissipate when they stopped talking, both of their minds wandering and trying to make sense of this new chapter in their still ambiguous relationship. A few minutes passed this way before Tony noticed Angela bring a hand to her eyes.

"Are we okay?" Tony asked, putting his hand on her knee.

"Yeah," she said with a tearful smile.

Unable to manage a smile himself, he instead leaned over and kissed her cheek. To his surprise, she then turned her head so her lips brushed his as he started to pull away.

"What happened to no kissing on the first date?"

The playfulness she possessed earlier had been replaced with a more solemn and serious demeanor, however, she did manage a lighter tone for a moment. "Things change."

This was the only encouragement he needed. In a second, he was kissing her again, holding her tighter than he had back at the courthouse. Gone was the spontaneous heat he'd felt when he kissed her then. Now, he wanted to make up for the pain he'd caused her, lingering, reassuring her that she meant everything to him.


End file.
